Page 440 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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LAND DEPARTMENT
(Report by Khan Sahcb Mohamcd Khalil Memon, Superintendent of the Land Department).
Registration.—During the year 628 properties were registered ; of these 344 were sales, 78
gifts and there were 206 registrations of titles. The sales included 201 houses, 58 gardens, 50 plots
of lands and compounds, 16 shops and amarahs, 13 fish traps, 1 irrigation right and 5 miscellaneous
properties. The registration fees amounted to Rs. 56,642 on sales and Rs. 4,737 on the registration
of gifts and titles, the total being Rs. 61,379. jThis was Rs. 13,379 more than the amount anticipated
in the budget and Rs. 3,579 more than the sum collected in the previous year.
The value of property sold during the year was Rs. 28,47,541, about two thirds of the value of
sales in 1365. There was a corresponding drop in the number of sales, in 1366 there were 344 sales
and in 1365 the number of sales registered was 543,201 houses were sold in 1366 and 408 in the previous
year. This decline in the number of sales was due to the general depreciation in the value of house
property ; one house was sold during the year for Rs. 45,000 which had been bought by the seller
two years before for Rs. 50,000, another house which was sold for Rs. 44,000 was valued at Rs. 50,000
twelve months previously. The Rent Assessment Regulation which fixed rents of hired houses at
4 per cent per annum on the value of the property greatly discouraged would-be purchasers from
buying house property and has also prevented many people from building houses for letting which is
unfortunate as there is a very urgent need for more houses in Manama. The cost of repairs and upkeep
of houses is high at present ind landlords find that 4 per cent does not give them sufficient profit after
keeping their properties in repair. Before the Rent Assessment Regulations were introduced the
same houses used to change hands more than once in the course of a year, this in itself was undesira­
ble but if a higher percentage of profit were allowed more houses would be built and eventually
as a result of supply and demand the rents of houses would decrease.
The following sales took place during the year :—
1. A house in Manama, Fariq Awadhieh, sold by Mohamed Sharif Ahmed to Abdul Rehman
Zayani & Sons, for Rs. 44,000.
2. A house on Jufair Road, sold by Shaikh Ishaq bin Abdul Rehman al Khan to Messrs.
Cable & Wireless Limited, for Rs. 1,51,000.
3. A plot of land on Jufair Road, Manama, sold by Bahrain Government to Messrs.
Petroleum Concessions Limited, for Rs. 1,20,281.
4. Three adjoining houses in Fariq Awadhieh, Manama, sold by Abdulla and Abdul Aziz
al Nafe to Haj Abdul Aziz al Ali al Bassam, for Rs. 45,000.
5. A plot of land at Mahooz, Manama, sold by Bahrain Government to Messrs. Gray,
Mackenzie & Co., for Rs. 62,459.
Proclamation No. 1/1349 regarding compulsory registration of transfer of immovable property
•with its subsequent amendments has been applied all these years to Bahrain subjects and to foreigners
alike. This year it was found that it was not legally enforceable against foreigners because it had not
yet been applied to them by a King’s Regulation. The proclamation was consequently redrafted as
follows embodying all the amendments and a King’s Regulation was issued under the name “ Regis­
tration Ordinance."
This Ordinance is hereby enacted in order to consolidate the various ordinances previously
issued relating to the registration of immovable property.
Short Title.
It shall come into force forthwith and shall be cited as the " Registration Ordinance."
Provision.
This Ordinance provides:
I. The registration of the transfer of immovable property situated in Bahrain territories, by
sale, gift, exchange, dedication or any other manner, shall be compulsory.
Explanation.—The term " immovable property " includes unseparated shares in immovable
property, fish traps, maskars, any other form of fishing rights and irrigation rights.